Religion Today

Martin Tanner explains that the Jewish sect that wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls was called the "Latter-day Saints" and were led by a "Teacher of RIghteousness" and a counsel of 10 to 12 men.  The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm many truths from the Book of Mormon, that there were ancient Jewish prophets not mentioned in the Bible, like Zenock and Zenos in the Book of Mormon, and Zadock in the Dead Sea Scrolls. They confirm pre-Christian Jews practiced baptism by immersion.  They believed their Messiah would be pierced and die.  The Nag Hammadi Library is noteworthy because it has authentic words of Jesus, not in the Bible, its Gospel of Philip implies Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and it speaks of a Heavenly Mother.  The Secret Gospel of Mark says Jesus taught Lazarus, after bringing him back from the dead, about the "mysteries of the Kingdom of God" in a which which appears to be very much like the LDS Temple Endowment.  

Martin Tanner discusses the purpose and meaning of Temple Garments.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sacred clothing, which is not unique. Sacred garments are mentioned in Genesis 3:21 says God made clothing for Adam and Eve. Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, was given a coat of "many priesthood powers" (not many colors). Nuns, priests, ministers and Jewish Rabbis all wear sacred clothing, with meanings, similar to Temple Garments.  When Elijah was taken into heaven, he left his "Mantle" or sacred cloak/coat, which was a symbol of his power as a prophet, to his successor Elsha.

Host Martin Tanner highly recommends a new, historically accurate, highest quality LDS film Six Days in August, about the succession issue, who would lead the Church after Joseph Smith was murdered on June 27th, 1844.  For several months it was unclear who would lead the Church.  The Council of the Twelve Apostles and its president, Brigham Young, promised to continue to lead the Church just as Joseph Smith had been planning.  Sidney Rigdon, another possible successor, would have kept the Church in Nauvoo or in the mid-West.  James Strang claimed to be a successor prophet and wanted to lead the Church.  Emma wanted Joseph Smith, III, to be the next president, but he was only 11 years old.  In a Church assembly in August 1844, Sidney Rigdon spoke and convinced many he should lead, but them Brigham Young spoke, and according to the diaries of over 120 people who were at the assembly, Brigham Young appeared to appear as Joseph Smith, or sounded like Joseph Smith, which was taken as a sign from God. The Church members overwhelmingly voted for Brigham and the Apostles to lead the Church.

Your host, Martin Tanner, provides sources, including the Bible, that support the belief that God the Father is a divine man.  Although Jews, the Orthodox faith, Catholics and Protestants believe God the Father is a spirit only, confirmation that God the Father is a divine person is found in many sources.  Martin provides many of those sources, together with logic and common sense, on a topic not often discussed.

Details of how and why Joseph Smith, with Emma, went to the hill (not yet known as Cumorah) just after midnight, September 22, 1827, to acquire the golden plates.  Descriptions of the dimensions of the golden plates, and how much they weighed, from those who picked them up.  How Joseph Smith began to translate.  Why Martin Harris decided to take a few lines of characters copied from the plates, with a translation, to Columbia Professor Charles Anthon and Samuel Mitchell.  Why were there contradicting stories from Anthon, Mitchell and Harris.

In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner laments that Evangelical and Latter-day Saint Christians do not get along better.  He then responds, point by point to an Evangelical Critic who has come up with 50 flawed reasons why the LDS Faith is not true. Martin's Response points out the flaws in the Evangelical pastor's points, and presents facts which prove them to be wrong.

Requests from a few listeners led host Martin Tanner to present in this episode of Religion Today, a few of the very best evidences of the Book of Mormon, including, (1) although writing on metal plates was unknown in Joseph Smith's day, examples of writing on metal plates during Book of Mormon times have been found in the Middle East and Central America; (2) During Joseph Smith's lifetime, horses were thought to have been unknown to Native Americans until the arival of Columbus, but the Book of Mormon mentions horses, and now examples of horses prior to Columbus have been found by archaeologists; (3) During Joseph Smith's lifetime, Native Americans were thought to use bows and arrows, and spears as weapons, but examples of Head-shields, Head-plates, scimitars, and other items of warfare have been found which verify statement in the Book of Mormon.  Martin gives many other examples of evidence Joseph Smith could not have known, which are found in the Book of Mormon, that are now supported by archeology, linguistics and other scientific evidence.  

Requests from a few listeners led host Martin Tanner to present in this episode of Religion Today, a few of the very best evidences of the Book of Mormon, including, (1) although writing on metal plates was unknown in Joseph Smith's day, examples of writing on metal plates during Book of Mormon times have been found in the Middle East and Central America; (2) During Joseph Smith's lifetime, horses were thought to have been unknown to Native Americans until the arival of Columbus, but the Book of Mormon mentions horses, and now examples of horses prior to Columbus have been found by archaeologists; (3) During Joseph Smith's lifetime, Native Americans were thought to use bows and arrows, and spears as weapons, but examples of Head-shields, Head-plates, scimitars, and other items of warfare have been found which verify statement in the Book of Mormon.  Martin gives many other examples of evidence Joseph Smith could not have known, which are found in the Book of Mormon, that are now supported by archeology, linguistics and other scientific evidence.  

Host Martin Tanner explains Jewish, Christian and Latter-day Saint ideas about what happened to the Lost 10 Tribes.  He explains various explanation about where they are now, and when and under what circumstances they will return

Martin Tanner points out the pros and cons of some of the most popular, most popular and widely read English Bible translations, including the King James Version, the Good News Bible, the New Revised Standard Version updated edition, New English Translation with over 60,000 scholarly footnotes, and Martin's personal favorite, the Contemporary English Version. 

Martin Tanner describes the Jewish sects that existed about a century before the time of Christ, during the lifetime of Christ, and about a century after, including the Maccabees, Sadducees, Phrisees, Zealots, Essenes, Gelileans, and several Baptist groups. The Maccabees were the first sect within Judaism.  The Sadducees denied the resurrection.  The Pharisees were the "lawyers" of the New Testament era.  They knew the laws of Judaism.. The Zealots did not separate religion and politics, and were the terrorists of their day, killing with knives those who they thought were thwarting the truth.  The Essenes were the Dead Sea Scrolls community.  They though themselves to be the livers of the higher law.

Seven forest fire-fighters who died in the flames and saw each other's spirits above their bodies, only to miraculously return to life after the fire had passed.  Knowledge of the future acquired during near-death experiences, only to be supressed upon returning to life through the veil of forgetfulness.  Premonitions and warnings in the form of actual voices from God or a guardian angel. Miraculous healings, from Multiple Sclerosis and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.  Religion Today host, Martin Tanner describes these events, and other rare and lesser known elements of near-death experiences. 

In this episode of Religion Today, Martin Tanner describes what the Joseph Smith's "Inspired Version" or "Inspired Revision" of the Bible is. It is not an inspired revision to bring the text back to the original wording.  It is more of an inspired expansion and revision of important passages. Martin provides insights into how to better understand the "Inspired Version."

In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner gives a brief overview of the Book of Abraham and the Book of Moses, the least read and least understood scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Book of Moses is part of the "Inspired Translation" of the Bible sometimes called the "Inspired Version."  The Book of Abraham is a translation of a scroll of Egyptian Papyri, about 60 or so feet long, one of fact scrolls, acquired by the Church in 1835.  Martin Tanner describes both books, briefly describes their contents, and responds to critics who falsely claim they are not genuine translations of ancient documents 

In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner examines the plausibility of the claims made by Joseph Smith about the origin of The Book of Mormon, translated by the gift and power of God.  He also examines the plausibility of the claims of critics who say Sidney Rigdon or Oliver Cowdery were authors.  Martin also examines the plausibility of the claims that Ethan Smith's book View of the Hebrews or Solomon Spanding's manuscript were the source for The Book of Mormon.  Martin concludes it would be impossible for Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery or View of the Hebrews, or the Spalding manuscript to be the source for the Book of Mormon.  Martin also examines the Ex-Mormons claims that similar wording in the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon means The Book of Mormon is not an ancient document, and finds this theory logically flawed.

In this episode of Religion Today host Martin Tanner explores whether there is a real, or only apparent, conflict between religion and the theory of evolution.  Scientists claim evolution isn't a theory, but a fact. But science does not support that claim.  When the fossil record is examined closely, it is obvious it does not support the theory of evolution, because over 95% of all life forms in existence today, appeared in less than one-tenth of one-percent of the time life has existed on earth, in an explosion of new life forms, not slowly and incrementally, as Charles Darwin and his the theory of evolution predicted.  In addition, the fossil record does not have the transitional forms that would be needed to provide evidence for the theory of evolution.

Martin Tanner, host of Religion Today, interviews Stephen Smoot and Brian Passantino, editors of their new book, available at Deseret Book, Benchmark Book and on Amazon, Joseph Smith's Uncanonized Revelations.  This book of just under 200 pages gives easy access to Joseph Smith's uncanonized revelations, with excellent, succinct descriptions of the setting and context of each, along with an explanation of the significance of the revelation.  This book is a must-have supplement to the Doctrine and Covenants.

In this episide of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner interviews James Dalrymple and Jonathan Farrell About Scripture Central's new ultra high quality video series on Book of Mormon evidences, available free to anyone, at YouTube.  Highly recommended by Martin Tanner. 

For many people, especially those who feel lonely due to loss of a spouse, child or friend, a pet is very important to them. Many people love their pets very much like a family member. In this episode of Religion Today, the host, Martin Tanner, gives many reasons for believing that pets and other animals have souls and will be seen in the after-life. Martin shares Joseph Smith's comments showing animals have sould. He also shares near-death experiences in which the person saw their deceased pet during their experience.

"Toxic Masculinity" and "Not needed" are two of the phrases often heard in society today about men and fathers. The assumption is the men and fathers, especially white men, are privileged, while women and minorities are discriminated against.  In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner provides statistics and studies to show how men are viewed in society and how men view themselves.  Statistics show men overwhelmingly see their most important role as husband and father. Men would far rather have their children become honest, kind, hard-working, and caring, then rich. These are all good signs for a resurgence in the idea that men and fathers are important.

Where did the events in the Book of Mormon likely take place? In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner presents some of the latest evidence from geography, archaeology, LiDar scans, population studies, geology, volcanoloy,  and linguistics, which points to Central America, from southern Mexico to Guatemala on the Yucatan Peninsula, as the likely location for the Jaradite civilation, and the Nephite civilation.

Many theories have been advanced by New Testament scholars about the nature of Paul's "thorn in the flesh" he speaks of in 2 Corinthians 12:7. The theories include:  temptation, a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, epilepsy, a speech impediment, or even a person, perhaps "Alexander the coppersmith" who paul says did Paul "a great deal of Harm" (2 Timothy 4:14).  In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner follows the clues and concludes Paul probably had a severe eye problem, which greatly hampered his vision, and which was visible to anyone who looked at Paul's face.  Perhaps Paul had such severe cataracts that he could not see well, and his eyes were visibly cloudy, and obviously diseased.  Paul's physical problem was so severe that he had a permanent physician, Luke, the man who wrote the Gospel of Luke. 

Host Martin Tanner describes the implications of ancient words and phrases in The Book of Mormon.  He describes how certain words and phrases show Joseph Smith's influence, while others show God's had tight control over the translation process.  No one has devised an explanation for the Book of Mormon translation process, which explains all of the evidence.  We know little more than that Joseph Smith could not have produced it, and, it was translated by the "gift and power of God."

In this Religion Today episode, host Martin Tanner explains that we know about the contents of the Lost 116 Pages of the Book of Mormon, which is a surprisingly large amount.  Martin explains why it is unlikely that Lucy Harris took or destroyed the lost 116 pages. He also explain the sources for what we know about the contents of the lost Book of Lehi and other details about the 116 Page. 

In honor of Mothers' Day, host Martin Tanner, describes the origin of the LDS doctrine of a Heavenly Mother, from Joseph Smith, as described by Eliza R. Snow, Zina Huntington, Parly P. Pratt, Brigham Young, and others.  And, its confirmation by Gordon B. Hinckley, James E. Faust, Bruce R. McConkie, Spencer W. Kimball, James H. Talmage, B.H. Roberts and many others.  The idea of a Heavenly Mother is found in three LDS hymns, in several official Church manuals, in the Joseph Smith History of the Church, the Ensign, Times and Seasons, and many other sources. Martin Tanner also describes the Biblical sources for a Mother in Heaven, the Early Christian scriptures refering to a Mother in Heaven, and ancient Jewish sources for the belief in a female deity in Jewish thought and doctrine.